Plastic lawn edging and similar products are typically wound into a coiled configuration to facilitate transportation from the manufacturer to the retailer, pre-sale storage, display, and transportation by the purchaser from the retailer to the location at which the product will be utilized. Heretofore such products have been retained in the coiled configuration by lengths of strapping which are tightly secured around the coil at multiple locations around its circumference. The strapping technique functions well insofar as securing the product in the coiled configuration is concerned, but does not provide a handle to facilitate transportation of the coiled product from the retailer to the point of utilization.
As is well known, plastic lawn edging is almost universally marketed in the above-described coiled configuration. Plastic lawn edging typically comprises a lower spear-tipped edge adapted to secure the lawn edging into engagement with the earth, and an upper hollow cylindrical edge which is aesthetically pleasing and which provides a clear line of demarcation between the lawn and an adjacent garden. Adjacent lengths of plastic lawn edging are secured together by plastic tubing sections which are received in the hollow, cylindrical upper edge of the lawn edging. Heretofore problems have been encountered because there has not been a reliable way to secure the connectors to the coiled plastic lawn edging prior to its utilization by the consumer.
The present invention comprises a packaging system for coiled goods which overcomes the foregoing and other problems which have long since been associated with the prior art. In accordance with the broader aspects of the invention, a length of product is wound into a coil. A hole is drilled diametrically through the multiple layers comprising the coiled product. A rod is extended through the hole from one side of the coiled product to the other, and fasteners are secured to both ends of the rod, thereby retaining the product in the coiled configuration. Lengths of strapping may be used to further secure the product in the coiled configuration, if desired.
In the case of plastic lawn edging and similar products, a connector for securing adjacent lengths of product end to end is located at the center of the coil and the rod which secures the product in the coiled configuration extends through the connector. This provides the dual benefit of affording a convenient handle for use in transportation of the product by the consumer and a convenient means of securing the connector to the coiled product and thereby assuring that it will not be lost or stolen.